Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Despite previous statements declaring that their online service would be offering live video streaming some time this year, a source inside now states that YouTube won’t be going live after all. There goes the business plans of several planning to make a buck off the live streaming idea, like the somewhat cult-popular lifecast justin.tv. Some outsiders have thought this was the next expected step for YouTube, being that they make a killing in the market for pre-recorded Web video. Even Steve Chen, Co-Founder of YouTube, lent plausibility to the leap to live streaming when the idea first hit the public’s ear by telling Pop 17’s Sarah Meyer’s “Live video is something we always wanted to do but haven’t had the resources to do it correctly, but now with Google, we hope to launch something this year.” Well, that was in February, and it isn’t happening, and sources say it won’t be happening next year either.

MORE »

Your right to privacy is no longer as private as you once thought or hoped. By court order, Google is being forced to hand over all the records of every video watched by YouTube users. This information will include users’ names as well as IP addresses, and the request has Google lawyers arguing invasion of privacy.  The judge in his ruling, however, found this argument “speculative” and ordered them to turn over the logs on a set of four terabyte hard drives.

The purpose behind the lawsuit is that Viacom intends to prove that infringing material is more prominent than user-created videos. This would most likely increase Google’s liability if they are found guilty of contributory infringement. The suit was originally filed in March of 2007, with Viacom seeking over $1 billion in damages. Google tried to argue that the law provides a “safe harbor for online services so long as they comply with copyright take-down requests.” Apparently Judge Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who issued the opinion and order, wasn’t buying it, since the order also requires Google to supply copies of any video that was taken down for any reason.

MORE »

• XM and Sirius are getting into bed
• Viacom looks partner with YouTube rival, Joost
• Quit your email addiction in 12 steps
• Unboxing the Cingular Blackberry 8800
• Apple OS X Leopard may be ready in March
• Will Palm be bought by Nokia?li>

Viacom’s cable channel child, MTV, has announced the creation of MTVN Mobile Media. The new division, which will work to promote MTVN programming in video games, ringtones, graphics and web sites, will be headed up by newly promoted SVP Greg Clayman. MTVN Mobile Media will feature bonus featurettes, footage and specials in addition to mobile versions of current properties including “The Daily Show” and “Spongebob Squarepants.” This comes not too long after MTVN’s November announcement of their intention to expand further into the web, further fragmenting their distribution, and most likely, playing an even lower percentage of music videos than ever before.

Read [Home Media Retailing] Read [AdWeek]

NBC, News Corp., CBS, and Viacom are all in talks to take out the grand champion YouTube, by creating a competing site in which they get all the profits.  They’ve got plenty of content in their archives, so it would be relatively easy to do.  It would be kind of like… IPTV now wouldn’t it?

So the real question is, will this work?  Will people really be driven away from YouTube because a few networks are teaming up to start another site?  I say absolutely not.  The site may become SEMI-popular, but won’t have the Indie feel that YouTube does.  But I’m going to say they’re not aiming for the YouTubers.  They would be aiming for people that want FULL-LENGTH TV shows and don’t want to go to iTunes and shell out cash.  If they provide TV shows for free with commercials, I’ll probably get on over there and watch me some shows I’ve missed.  It all sounds great in theory, but lets be honest, they’re quite a bit more greedy than that.

According to the New York Times, issues are also likely to pop up due to the networks’ differing agendas.

But each partner in the proposed YouTube competitor brings its own agendas and potential conflicts. For instance, the News Corporation also owns both the Fox television network and the popular MySpace social networking Web site.

MTV’s Xfire gaming site surpassed 5 million registered users this past week. MTV’s parent company, Viacom, purchased Xfire earlier this year for $102 million with 3.2 million registered users. Xfire offers 630 ad-supported games as well as services such as voice chat, in-game messaging, peer-to-peer downloads and buddy lists for registered users. Yep, talking, messaging and gaming all at the same time - it’s like a cell phone except a lot less convenient to put in your purse or pocket.

Site [XFire]

Google has partnered with Viacom’s MTV Networks to test a video distribution platform that supplies ad-supported content online. The deal will be the first time MTV content has been made available outside of the network’s own Web site. MTV Networks’ programs will also be available for download through Google Video, for $1.99 per episode. With more content from across MTVN’s entire portfolio to be added, the initial offering includes full-length episodes from:

• Comedy Central: “Chappelle’s Show”, “South Park”


• MTV: “Beavis & Butthead: The Mike Judge Collection, Vol. 1”, “Laguna Beach”, “Gauntlet 2”, “My Super Sweet Sixteen”, “Jackass”, and “Punked”.


• MTV2: “WonderShowzen”


• Nickelodeon: “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, “SpongeBob SquarePants”, “Zoey 101”, “The Fairly OddParents”, and “Dora The Explorer”


• The N: “Beyond the Break”, “South of Nowhere”, and “O’Grady”

Read [IP Democracy]